__________________The universe is the practical joke of the General at the expense of the Particular, quoth Frater Perdurabo, and laughed. The disciples nearest him wept, seeing the Universal Sorrow. Others laughed, seeing the Universal Joke. Others wept. Others laughed. Others wept because they couldn't see the Joke, and others laughed lest they should be thought not to see the Joke. But though FRATER laughed openly, he wept secretly; and really he neither laughed nor wept. Nor did he mean what he said.

Johnny Callison; after Veeck traded him after the 1959 season he went on to have a nice career. Before the 59 season the hype on Callison was huge, IIRC the Sox produced a special on him before the season and ran it on WGN. He was going to be the greatest 5 tool Sox player ever.

__________________Coming up to bat for our White Sox is the Mighty Mite, Nelson Fox.

For some reason, I was really hoping Danny Richar would become a dangerous gap-hitting moderate-power high-average second baseman. It was probably just a case of trying to find something positive during the second half of 2007, or it might have been because he hit a homer just a few rows from where I was sitting at the Jim Thome bobblehead walkoff game in September that month.

I also had an unhealthy hope for Kip Wells. That was probably partly due to the perfect storm of the Sox' farm system being overhyped, the availability of internet baseball news and scouting info exploding around that time, and me being in high school and gobbling it all up all the time.

Yeah, Kip Wells definitely. And here's the thing. When Kip came up for the first time in the 2nd half of, I want to say, 1999 . . . he was ****ing awesome. He was fanning people left and right and simply dominating.

Then, next season came around people thought he'd be our ace and he struggled right out of the gate and never again looked like he did in his first couple months of the majors. It ended up being Garland in the rotation for the 2nd half of 2000, not Kip.

It was just weird. Maybe he injured something and we just never heard about it.

__________________It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone. - A. Bartlett Giamatti

When I was a kid my Dad had a complete man-crush on Royle Stillman. He played briefly with the Orioles for a couple years and looked good, then the Sox signed him as a free agent and he only played one season ('77) and hit about .200.

Yeah, Kip Wells definitely. And here's the thing. When Kip came up for the first time in the 2nd half of, I want to say, 1999 . . . he was ****ing awesome. He was fanning people left and right and simply dominating.

Then, next season came around people thought he'd be our ace and he struggled right out of the gate and never again looked like he did in his first couple months of the majors. It ended up being Garland in the rotation for the 2nd half of 2000, not Kip.

It was just weird. Maybe he injured something and we just never heard about it.

Didn't Kip get hit by a line drive or something in spring training 2000 and after that he seemed really timid on the mound?

And my player would probably be Joe Borchard. All the hype from when he was drafted through his minor league service up until he homered in his first game, and it just never happened. Although he's the reason the Sox got Matt Thornton so there's that one positive.

Johnny Callison; after Veeck traded him after the 1959 season he went on to have a nice career. Before the 59 season the hype on Callison was huge, IIRC the Sox produced a special on him before the season and ran it on WGN. He was going to be the greatest 5 tool Sox player ever.

You are amazing. I remember that special. It was narrated by Jack Brickhouse.